3.

Jim Rogash, Getty Images

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis breaks Brady Anderson's team record for home runs. There was nothing cheap about his record-setting blast. On a chilly September night in Boston, Orioles slugger Chris Davis slammed his 51st home run into the bleachers in dead center field against the soon-to-be world champion Red Sox. The homer tied a game that Baltimore would eventually win and broke the club mark of 50 homers set in 1996 by Brady Anderson, who surprised Davis afterward with a congratulatory hug in the clubhouse. Davis' homer capped a stellar season for the 27-year-old first baseman, who'd matched a big league record by homering in each of the Orioles' first four games in April. A fluke? Surely Davis would cool, having struggled at the plate for much of his career. Instead, the man fans called "Crush" proved the linchpin for a team that finished with a winning record for a second straight season. Then, on Sept. 17, he tagged a 2-1 pitch from Boston's Ryan Dempster -- who'd struck Davis out twice earlier -- for No. 51 in a game that kept the Orioles' waning playoff hopes alive, for the moment. A Red Sox fan returned the ball to Davis, who finished with an American League-leading 53 home runs and 138 RBIs.

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis breaks Brady Anderson's team record for home runs. There was nothing cheap about his record-setting blast. On a chilly September night in Boston, Orioles slugger Chris Davis slammed his 51st home run into the bleachers in dead center field against the soon-to-be world champion Red Sox. The homer tied a game that Baltimore would eventually win and broke the club mark of 50 homers set in 1996 by Brady Anderson, who surprised Davis afterward with a congratulatory hug in the clubhouse. Davis' homer capped a stellar season for the 27-year-old first baseman, who'd matched a big league record by homering in each of the Orioles' first four games in April. A fluke? Surely Davis would cool, having struggled at the plate for much of his career. Instead, the man fans called "Crush" proved the linchpin for a team that finished with a winning record for a second straight season. Then, on Sept. 17, he tagged a 2-1 pitch from Boston's Ryan Dempster -- who'd struck Davis out twice earlier -- for No. 51 in a game that kept the Orioles' waning playoff hopes alive, for the moment. A Red Sox fan returned the ball to Davis, who finished with an American League-leading 53 home runs and 138 RBIs. (Jim Rogash, Getty Images)

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis breaks Brady Anderson's team record for home runs. There was nothing cheap about his record-setting blast. On a chilly September night in Boston, Orioles slugger Chris Davis slammed his 51st home run into the bleachers in dead center field against the soon-to-be world champion Red Sox. The homer tied a game that Baltimore would eventually win and broke the club mark of 50 homers set in 1996 by Brady Anderson, who surprised Davis afterward with a congratulatory hug in the clubhouse. Davis' homer capped a stellar season for the 27-year-old first baseman, who'd matched a big league record by homering in each of the Orioles' first four games in April. A fluke? Surely Davis would cool, having struggled at the plate for much of his career. Instead, the man fans called "Crush" proved the linchpin for a team that finished with a winning record for a second straight season. Then, on Sept. 17, he tagged a 2-1 pitch from Boston's Ryan Dempster -- who'd struck Davis out twice earlier -- for No. 51 in a game that kept the Orioles' waning playoff hopes alive, for the moment. A Red Sox fan returned the ball to Davis, who finished with an American League-leading 53 home runs and 138 RBIs.